The Russian Foreign Ministry called the EU's visa restrictions a "shot in the foot"

European countries themselves create economic losses by restricting the tourist trips of Russians and the work of European tour operators with Russian destinations. This was announced on August 31 by Artem Studennikov, Director of the first European Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

"If the Europeans like to keep shooting themselves in the foot by restricting tourist flows from Russia and prohibiting European travel agencies from working in the Russian direction, this is their choice. We leave on their conscience the attempts to build a new "iron curtain" in Europe," he said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

Wayward tags: The EU is discussing a ban on issuing tourist visas to all Russians

Last year, more than 600,000 Russian citizens received a document for travel to the Schengen countries.

On August 20, Russian Consul General in Geneva Igor Popov announced that the Swiss authorities had for the first time begun to deny Russian citizens entry to the country for medical treatment. At the same time, according to him, no official explanations are provided.